Well well well.... It seems that taking time to sit down and just write a blog has been more difficult than I imagined. Anyways no excuses I'll just write!
This week marks the beginning of a new chapter and new journey altogether for me here in Peru. The last three weeks have been interesting as Brent left to head back to the U.S. and Bob left yesterday to head home to Sweden leaving only Stefan and I here until tomorrow when he leaves as well. Its kind of hard to imagine what the next three months are going to look like. I keep trying to think of things that I definitely want to accomplish in the remainder of my time here and MAN there is a lot to do. I am excited to be fully emerged in the culture and forced to really learn and practice more Spanish. That is certainly one thing I want to do is learn the language! With that there is also the completion of the house. We have made good progress so far on the bathroom and all we lack is finishing that and completing the other room with the kitchen. I am very interested to see how it will all turn out as Stefan leaves. So far, I have just been following his lead as he has the experience but I will be flying solo soon and trying to figure out the best ways to complete the house on my own. I'm pretty excited about the challenge though! On top of the physical work there is definitely some work in continuing to build the relationships with the boys as well as working to connect the 3 groups of Christian surfers here and encouraging them to work together.
The kids are headed back to school this week so I will be searching for time to spend with them after school and on the weekends. The relationships so far have been pretty easy to create but I want to make the effort to spend more time with these guys and try to somehow show them that they are the ones that have the ability to make changes to their city by the way they choose to live now and the tempo they create for others to follow after them.
Along with all this there is most certainly the much needed alone time that will be coming over the next three months. I will have the ability to hold a more regular schedule by myself and can just be alone when I need to. I feel like I have learned so much already but there is much to learn while I'm here on my own!
I ask that you guys keep Christian Surfers Peru in your prayers as leadership issues are being worked out and that I can have the boldness to speak up when I feel the time is right. Also that the relationships with the kids would continue to grow and strengthen. Then that during this time that I will just stay focused and be open to learn and grow as well!
Here we GO!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
And Im BACK!!!
Alright everyone so I know its been a while since you have gotten a legit update and I'm sorry but it can get a bit crazy around here with all the last minute changes of plans and hey lets get up and do this or surf and by the time I lay down to bed its late and I'm like oh man I need to blog but then I just pass out and forget about it. SOOO with all my excuses out of the way I want to say thanks for being so patient!
Wow ok where to begin... the last post that I made was right before Christmas and I was able to tell you guys the awesome thing with all the gifts that came in unexpected! So cool and on Christmas Eve we were able to go around and pass all those gifts out and all the clothes out to the kids and to the families in need. We actually walked up the hill from where we are staying now and the houses just begin to look worse and worse as you walk up the mtn. Huge families of like 10 are living in these chantilly built homes that have damage from earthquakes. The people living in most of the homes have no running water and if there is water then there is no hot water. It's crazy to see such poverty right across the street from a club that costs about 30,000 US Dollars a year to be a part of. I guess it is just hard for me to understand. But it was nice to walk around and hand out the gifts and everyone was so happy and excited to see that they could receive something on Christmas. We walked back with some of the boys and we had a few boxes of gifts left for some of the families that we weren't able to see that night. We allowed the boys to look through some of the packages that we had to take what they wanted... I looked over and watched a boy that was about 15 years old rummaging through this box with girls toys in it and watched as he picked up doll after doll searching for the best one and then he noticed that I had been watching and said "por me hermana." Which means for my sister. I was so touched at the fact that he had reign to all the toys there and yet could put aside what he wanted and looked for something to give his sister on Christmas. It amazes me to see that in a culture where it is pretty dog eat dog for what you can get that there are still hearts like the one this boy showed that night. Andres tells us that these boys have come a long way over the past year or so. It shows and gives me so much hope that changes can be made here for these boys. Most of the kids here are surrounded by crime and drugs but most families are pushed to these means to provide based on the fact there is literally no work or people aren't able to get work based on lack of education. We see quite a bit of dropouts because there is no reason to look higher because there is really nothing to look higher for. You can make twice the money dealing drugs here than you can with some of the highest paid salaries so there is a bit of an endless cycle and way of thinking that has a lot of these kids almost trapped. We hope that we can help to educate a bit better of the things that are possible when you put your mind to something. We are trying to encourage the boys to dream and to dream big and to go for it... whatever their interests or desires may be.
Along with the passing of Christmas and New Years and some awesome Pisco Sours (the drink of choice by most Peruvians) came the completion of our NEW HOUSE!!! OK well just our room is finished as of now and we are completely moved in with shelves, bunkbeds, and a sweet window that looks out towards the ocean. We finished this room in a little under 4 weeks and will begin construction on the second part of the house at the end of this week. Andres along with a couple of the other guys who are running TPC have dreams to make a camp here that is sustained year round that volunteers can come and help from other countries much like we are doing now. Andres wants to have a school and a surf school where kids are taught how to provide for themselves through fishing, making and selling art and just whatever other avenues are open for kids here. Its so cool to think the house that we have been so blessed to be a part of building will be used for years to come as this place grows and others come to help. I have no doubt that God will continue to bless what is going on here as He has already began a good work here. We are going to be traveling to the North in the next couple of weeks where we hope to meet with another group that began something very similar to what they are trying to do here. The guy that runs the organization is actually from the states so we hope to talk and gain some perspective as to what we are getting ourselves into. Andres is such a passionate guy when it comes to these boys and wants so badly for them all to see a bigger picture of what is available for them to do but beginning with treating each other with love and respect which is amazing!
Surfing classes and English lessons began last week and we travel to the south tomorrow to help with a surf camp. We are heading these classes up right now and they seem to be going really well. You can begin to see just a small picture of what it all could look like one day. But as we have all said... one step at a time.
We have been eating some of the most amazing food and surfing a lot and just spending a lot of time with the boys. They are always around and we are joking and learning each others' languages. Its so much fun and I am beginning to grow very fond of this place. I appreciate the prayers for safety and protection and just the moral support from friends and family but just saying hi on skype or something. It has been so amazing to keep in touch as well as we have. I wish we could do more but hey we ARE in different countries. But thank God for technology! Well like I said I am up early in the morning to head south. Entonces, ahora voy a dormir!!! So then, now I will go to sleep! haha. Im learning slowly but surely!
Love you guys and please post questions if there is anything you guys want to know more details about!
I will post again soon!
Chris
Wow ok where to begin... the last post that I made was right before Christmas and I was able to tell you guys the awesome thing with all the gifts that came in unexpected! So cool and on Christmas Eve we were able to go around and pass all those gifts out and all the clothes out to the kids and to the families in need. We actually walked up the hill from where we are staying now and the houses just begin to look worse and worse as you walk up the mtn. Huge families of like 10 are living in these chantilly built homes that have damage from earthquakes. The people living in most of the homes have no running water and if there is water then there is no hot water. It's crazy to see such poverty right across the street from a club that costs about 30,000 US Dollars a year to be a part of. I guess it is just hard for me to understand. But it was nice to walk around and hand out the gifts and everyone was so happy and excited to see that they could receive something on Christmas. We walked back with some of the boys and we had a few boxes of gifts left for some of the families that we weren't able to see that night. We allowed the boys to look through some of the packages that we had to take what they wanted... I looked over and watched a boy that was about 15 years old rummaging through this box with girls toys in it and watched as he picked up doll after doll searching for the best one and then he noticed that I had been watching and said "por me hermana." Which means for my sister. I was so touched at the fact that he had reign to all the toys there and yet could put aside what he wanted and looked for something to give his sister on Christmas. It amazes me to see that in a culture where it is pretty dog eat dog for what you can get that there are still hearts like the one this boy showed that night. Andres tells us that these boys have come a long way over the past year or so. It shows and gives me so much hope that changes can be made here for these boys. Most of the kids here are surrounded by crime and drugs but most families are pushed to these means to provide based on the fact there is literally no work or people aren't able to get work based on lack of education. We see quite a bit of dropouts because there is no reason to look higher because there is really nothing to look higher for. You can make twice the money dealing drugs here than you can with some of the highest paid salaries so there is a bit of an endless cycle and way of thinking that has a lot of these kids almost trapped. We hope that we can help to educate a bit better of the things that are possible when you put your mind to something. We are trying to encourage the boys to dream and to dream big and to go for it... whatever their interests or desires may be.
Along with the passing of Christmas and New Years and some awesome Pisco Sours (the drink of choice by most Peruvians) came the completion of our NEW HOUSE!!! OK well just our room is finished as of now and we are completely moved in with shelves, bunkbeds, and a sweet window that looks out towards the ocean. We finished this room in a little under 4 weeks and will begin construction on the second part of the house at the end of this week. Andres along with a couple of the other guys who are running TPC have dreams to make a camp here that is sustained year round that volunteers can come and help from other countries much like we are doing now. Andres wants to have a school and a surf school where kids are taught how to provide for themselves through fishing, making and selling art and just whatever other avenues are open for kids here. Its so cool to think the house that we have been so blessed to be a part of building will be used for years to come as this place grows and others come to help. I have no doubt that God will continue to bless what is going on here as He has already began a good work here. We are going to be traveling to the North in the next couple of weeks where we hope to meet with another group that began something very similar to what they are trying to do here. The guy that runs the organization is actually from the states so we hope to talk and gain some perspective as to what we are getting ourselves into. Andres is such a passionate guy when it comes to these boys and wants so badly for them all to see a bigger picture of what is available for them to do but beginning with treating each other with love and respect which is amazing!
Surfing classes and English lessons began last week and we travel to the south tomorrow to help with a surf camp. We are heading these classes up right now and they seem to be going really well. You can begin to see just a small picture of what it all could look like one day. But as we have all said... one step at a time.
We have been eating some of the most amazing food and surfing a lot and just spending a lot of time with the boys. They are always around and we are joking and learning each others' languages. Its so much fun and I am beginning to grow very fond of this place. I appreciate the prayers for safety and protection and just the moral support from friends and family but just saying hi on skype or something. It has been so amazing to keep in touch as well as we have. I wish we could do more but hey we ARE in different countries. But thank God for technology! Well like I said I am up early in the morning to head south. Entonces, ahora voy a dormir!!! So then, now I will go to sleep! haha. Im learning slowly but surely!
Love you guys and please post questions if there is anything you guys want to know more details about!
I will post again soon!
Chris
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
WOW... Too long!
OK guys!!! It has been too long and so much has happened... We actually just got the internet working back really well again and I am able to get on really whenever I need to so these blogs are going to start coming more frequently I promise. There is so much to go over and I want to do it all at once but have to get up super early tomorrow to get some materials for the house we are building right now... It has to be early because the place we are getting the materials from may or may not be an abandoned disco tech that is guarded .... haha so we are headed to bed so we can get up early in the morning to get the bamboo... its going to look so good.
Ok so wanted to tell everyone that I haven't forgot about you all and more is on the way along with pictures.
Love you all and will post again THIS WEEK!!!
Chris
Ok so wanted to tell everyone that I haven't forgot about you all and more is on the way along with pictures.
Love you all and will post again THIS WEEK!!!
Chris
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